Why Don't People Conserve More Energy?

Attempting to tackle the question: "Why Don't People Conserve More Energy?"

For many people, Peak Oil isn't only a technological issue, it's also an issue of social psychology.

Links in the video:

Dr. Michael Mills: Evolutionary Psychology and Peak Oil
http://www.drmillslmu.com/peakoil.htm

The Doping Dilemma (Scientific American, March 2008)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-doping-dilemma

Prisoner's Dilemma [wiki]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_dilemma

Prisoner's Dilemma Explained [video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqn6MXyJ37c

Prisoner's Dilemma Explained (by a ninja) [video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdWmVbX6jok

Scene from "A Beautiful Mind"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bI_7_abwfI

-------------------

Artist: Fila Brazilla
Track: A Zed and Two L's
Album: Maim That Tune (1996)

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• peak
• oil
• gas
• prices
• gasoline
• economy
• conservation
• awareness
• nonprofit
• public
• service
• announcements
• energy
• psychology

[DeKree99]

umm we are conserving more. Do you drive more now that gas is going above 4 bucks a gallon and will continue forever. I dont! I drive less and conserve more..as does every single person I know

[PeakOilAwareness]

Hi,

It's definitely a question of scale. How much is everyone in the US reducing demand due to high gas prices? Does the reduction here match up to the demand increases in China and India. If not, then it's a wash, and prices will still go up.

That's the consumption game on the global scale, with nations as players. As each nation looks at the others and wonders "If I cut back my consumption, potentially hurting my economy, can I trust these other nations to do the same?"

[PeakOilAwareness]

Another big debate is if the "slow bleed" market forced conservation (high gas prices) alone is actually the best way to go about it or not.

Take infrastructure as an example. In the past year, the price of asphalt (a low-end petroleum product) has tripled. And most funds for road maintenance comes from, of course, gas taxes. Being squeezed from both ends, many cities and municipalities are severely cutting back on their maintenance projects.

[PeakOilAwareness]

A good analogy about the "slow bleed" Think about guys getting wounded in the US Civil War.

The surgeon: "We're going to have to reach in with these tongs, and yank out the bullet."

The guy: "That's going to hurt. I'm just bleeding a little now, can't I just tape it up?"

The surgeon: "Here's how this works. If we don't take that bullet out, the wound is going to fester. Then you will probably lose the leg or die. So we can either use these tongs now. Or I can use this saw later."

[paultheuglydog]

I have a picture saved on my computer of a beautiful woman sitting on top of a Hummer. I like looking at that picture. I wish that I could buy a Hummer. I dont care if it wastes gas. Gas is going to last forever anyway.

[MrEnergyCzar]

People won't conserve because there are no price signals...oil is subsidized via our military, the bases in the middle east and the Navy ships protecting the oil shipping lanes etc....

[sysFail81]

So are people smarter than yeast?